Nakahara Junichi Exhibition

So I finally made it to the Nakahara Junichi exhibition at the SOGO Museum of Art in the SOGO Yokohama department store. It had been on my to do list for ages and I'm glad I did. I would have regretted it like the Francis Bacon. It rivalled the ‘All You Need is Love’ exhibition at Mori Art Museum. It's definitely one of my favourite things I've seen so far this year in times of art.

Let me start with the space, being in a department store I was wary of the size of the gallery. I didn't want to end up paying ¥1000 entry for just a room with a few sketches. However I was not to be disappointed the space was a good size and exhibition large and varied. It reminded me of a Klimt exhibition I saw in Budapest there were so sketches, magazines, address books, postcards, art work, notes, posters etc. great examples of Nakahara’s work spanning the decades. Everything being in Japanese (the only downside to the exhibition) I don’t know if there from the Nakahara estate or from private collections or from on loan from other galleries. I’m guessing a mixture of all three. But I couldn’t help but think how amazing to have an original, postcard or magazine featuring his work!

Whether you're into Japanese art and illustration, textiles, dolls, kawaii, fashion (Western or Japanese), the exhibition had something for everyone. Though I must admit and unsurprisingly there were few men at the exhibition.That was lots of black spanning the entire length of his career. I don't think I saw a single dress or sketch design I didn't like. It made me want to look into more about kimonos, yukata and fashion in general, mostly the progression from traditional Japanese clothing particularly during and after WW2. I'm not really much of a fashionista but the detail was just exquisite and just so pretty and lovely. It was also great to see not exactly East meets West but East AND West. There were no dresses trying to be kimonos and no kimonos trying to be dresses. He just very diverse and created works in two very different styles.
Needless to say I bought many postcards. I was tempted to buy the exhibition catalogue but as unsurprisingly it was in Japanese. I don't really have a problem with that as it's really for the pictures. But I would like to know names of pieces further information. All in all I had lots of fun and loved exhibition. However, I would only go back to the SOGO Museum of Art if there was something that I particularly wanted to see. Unlike the Kamakura Museum of Modern Art I would visit there just for the sake of it despite being smaller and the same price entry. It has the added bonus of its location and tranquillity. Yup I'm still missing my National Lottery fund galleries of London!

Kamakura Museum of Modern Art

Today saw two rare things happen first the weather was actually nice on my day off and second and more miraculously I did something with it. Usually I over plan for fear of getting lost, my lack of language and my need to be organised. But for once I was fairly confident and ready to go forth. And today was really good I went to Kamakura, the old capital of Japan and home of the Samurai. Loads of Shrines, heritage sites and natural scenery but today I was off to its main gallery; The Museum of Modern Art Kamakura.

It’s a nice walk from the station down its main shopping street. I bought way too much paper, paper goods and postcards. When I stop think how much I spent on paper it’s shocking but completely worth it. It was nice to see some of shops and places I visited with Kazuki 3 years ago when I first came to Japan on holiday. It’s terrible that I live so close but now don’t explore much locally, something I shall rectify over the summer. There is so much to see and do! I took the Enoden there even though it’s longer and more expensive but it’s the scenic route going along the coast and down narrow little streets.

The gallery is right next to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū Shrine the biggest and most famous in Kamakura but I hardly glanced at it. Besides today was really busy and there was loads of tourists and school groups were out in force. The exhibition Matsuda Shohei A Centennial  Retrospective was okay. But really I just interested in seeing the space, it’s small but quite nice I liked and would come back again if it was exhibiting something of personal interest.  However, it’s the first gallery I’ve visited where I didn’t even bother with the gift shop. The work was not inspiring enough to buy the obligatory art postcard and I had already spent too much money en route. The sculpture court overlooks a large pond and is very picturesque and relaxing.

I ended my visit by spending time in the café out on the balcony writing out my vintage postcards with an iced coffee. I don’t know if the gallery will get busier over the summer. As an Art Management graduate I of course think that an effort should be made to attract the tourists who will inevitably visit the shrine. But today it was really quiet in the gallery. I was out on the balcony alone and it seemed as if I was miles away for the busy grounds of the Shrine which was literally a minute away. If it doesn’t then it’s a great little escape from a busy tourist spot if you are happy to pay the 900¥ entrance fee. But hey you get to take in a little more culture at the same time. All in all it was a lovely leisurely day off. Post on my paper purchases to follow!